The Hellenic League Division One East mid season review

Following our look at the state of play in the Combined Counties Division One, Football in Bracknell casts its eye over the Hellenic League Division One East to see how the local sides are getting on and to take a look at the title race and the battle to avoid relegation.

Berkshire sides

Of the four Berkshire sides in the Division, AFC Aldermaston are the highest placed as they currently sit 2nd in the league. The Atom Men got through the early disruption of parting company with their manager Kieran Jennings to top the table in September, but a couple of inconsistent results have prevented them from keeping pace with league leaders Burnham.

Jonny Feaver. Photo: Holyport FC

After having a mixed first few months of the season Holyport found their form going into November and are now on a run of 9 wins in 11 games.

They topped their Subsidiary Cup group and are still involved in the Floodlit and Reading Senior Cups. They also boast the league’s best defence and two of the league’s top four strikers, so they are well placed to move up the table in the new year.

Ellis Day. Photo: Neil Graham.

Wokingham & Emmbrook sit in 9th but they are only two points behind Holyport. The Sumas have suffered with many injuries and suspensions which has resulted in consistency being hard to come by.

Even so the Sumas are well placed for a top half finish and they can point to several good results, most recently beating Step 5 Abingdon United in the Floodlit Cup.

Woodley United started the season in dreadful fashion, losing all of their first 10 games, 5 of which were in the league. Since then however, the Kestrels have undergone a marked change in fortunes, taking 13 points from their last 5 games and second in the form table behind leaders Burnham. They are still in the Supplementary and Reading Senior Cups and will hope to continue their good run into 2019.

Woodley United’s Max Laschok. Photo: Peter Toft.

Promotion race

As with the Combined Counties Division One, there is only the league winners are guaranteed promotion, with the second going up if they are one of the 9 runners up with the best points per game in the 19 Step 6 leagues nationwide.

For the title winners it is hard to look anywhere other than Burnham. The Blues sit 8 points clear at the top of the table with 30 points from 12 games and have scored a whopping 111 goals in the 30 games they have played in all competitions this season.

Abingdon Town during a match at Woodley United. Photo: Peter Toft.

Abingdon Town had looked set to challenge Burnham for promotion, but after a strong start to the season the sides fortunes changed abruptly when their Chairman left the club. The Abbots are now in financial difficulties with the club needing a £20,000 injection to keep going past February.

Aldermaston are in 2nd place and three points below them are Thame Rangers who have games in hand but have lost their last two league matches. Three points below Thame, Holyport sit at the top of a glut of 9 teams who are separated by just 4 points so there are a lot of teams in contention for second place.

Relegation battle

After Bicester Town resigned from the league there is only one relegation spot left to be filled and Chinnor are the team who are currently in that position. The Biz having picked up just 4 points from their 12 games and are 8 points behind their closest rivals Penn & Tylers Green.

However, if Abingdon Town don’t find a solution for their financial issues they may be forced to resign which would mean all the other sides survive.

Predictions

If nothing else this section should provide some amusement when I come to look back on it in April.

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Rob is a keen fan of football at all levels and has been watching non-league since he was 12. Since moving to Reading in 2015, Rob has tried to get to as many of the local non-league sides as he can, and can often be found at a game with his dog Filbert.